Podcast: Can the Feds Do Anything and Everything for Common Defense?

In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about the “provide for for the common defense” clause in the Constitution.

Progressives have long used “general welfare” as an “anything and everything” clause to justify all kinds of unconstitutional overreach, from federal meddling in education to national healthcare. The right generally scoffs at this bastardization of the Constitution – and rightly so. But more and more, I’m hearing conservatives and Republicans use the term “provide for the common defense” in the exact same way. They essentially turned these words into a right-wing version of the general welfare clause.